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UPDATED: Federal Judge Slaps Telstra With $18M Fine A Federal Court Judge has rejected an application by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to fine Telstra $40M for breaches of the Trades Practises Act. Instead he has fined them a record $18M.

US Puts Pressure On Google To Name WiFi Snoops Google is coming under fire from a 38-strong US coalition investigation on whether it broke US law in collecting personal data from unsecured WiFi networks.

Google Apologises For Wi-Fi Collection Google has posted an apology online for its collection of Wi-Fi data, with the company saying that the whole exercise was a mistake.

Revenues Set To Crash At AmberTech Ambertech Limited, the share-listed distributor who is in the middle of a fight with Sydney consumer electronics retailer Digital Cinema, has forecast a fall in revenues of between 10 and 15 per cent according to a statement made to the ASX.

$11 Billion On The Way Telstra Set To Become Major Media Group COMMENT: Telstra is set to become a major media Company after cutting an $11 Billion dollar deal with the Federal Government and the National Broadband Network Company. Key to their growth will be the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission who have the right of veto on several aspects of the deal.

Apple iPad Gets Huge Online Buzz Research company, Nielsen, has revealed that the Apple iPad was met by high volumes of online consumer chat in the Asia Pacific region.

Slim LED Notebooks Gaining Momentum DisplaySearch has reported that LED backlight penetration in notebook PCs grew rapidly from 36 percent in 2009 to 81.5 percent in 2010. The firm also said that PC panel markets are expected to nearly eliminate CCFL-backlit notebooks by next year.

Google To Launch Brand New Search Engine That Delivers Fresher Pages BREAKING STORY: Google is set to launch a brand new search engine days after being taken to task by the Australian Federal Government. They claim that the new engine will deliver searches faster and up to 70% fresher than previous searches due to the introduction of a new indexing system called "Caffeine".

Google Fails To Pay Taxes In OZ EXCLUSIVE: A subsidary of one of the most succesful Companies in the world, Google Australia, who has never paid taxes in Australia and is currently, under investigation by the Australian Federal Police, following their capture of confidential data, has reported a $4.4M loss during the 12 months to December 2009. The search Company had revenues of $110 Million.

Critical Adobe Security Alert For Flash & Acrobat Issued Adobe has issued a critical security vulnerability alert for their Flash and Acrobat applications for both MAC and Wondows operating systems.

3D TV Launch Fibs & Lack Of Stock Haunt Sony OZ Sony Australia who last night launched their 3D TV offering in time for the FIFA World Cup is refusing to say whether they have stock problems or how much 3D TV stock they have in Australia. They have also refused to answers questions about why they lied to journalists about the launch date of their 3D TV offering.

Pricey Dell Streak Tablet Set To Struggle Up Against iPad The Dell Streak which is a 5" Android based tablet designed to compete with the iPad will be launched in Australia say Dell executives.

Day After T Box Telstra Shares Start To Climb Investors seemed to like what Telstra was saying yesterday about the opportunities for its about-to-be-released IPTV T-Box system which we revealed yesaterday.

Steve Jobs Talks Sex Flash Stolen iPhones Adobe & Google Steve Jobs has spoken about his sex life, Apple's fight with Google and Adobe and that stolen iPhone. Speaking alongside Rupert Murdoch he has defended several Apple decisions at the D8 Conference in the USA.

New Look Belkin Goes After Wireless Market Share Belkin Australia have held their first press conference in several years in an attempt to build their brand in the highly competitive wireless market. The company, which also sells bags, iPod and iPad accessories, and PC peripherals, is attempting to grow after a rocky period when several staff quit and senior management was replaced.

Canon Offers Bonus Gear With Printer Promotion Canon has two promotions aimed at consumers and small business owners. Called Tax Time Bonus, the campaigns will end on 31 July 2010.

New Intel Processors Coming To Thin Notebooks Intel has unveiled a new line of Core processors designed for ultra-thin and ultraportable notebooks.

Notebook Sales To Soar 25 Per Cent Worldwide sales of notebook computers will soar 25 percent in 2010 to hit 209.5 million units, according to a survey by California-based research group iSuppli.

Senior Microsoft Windows Exec Quits For Hewlett-Packard Days after news broke that Hewlett-Packard was dumping their Microsoft Windows-based Slate PC, the company has announced that they have hired former Windows executive, Bill Veghte, to develop software applications.

Hot Targus Adaptors Recalled Targus has issued a recall for two of its adaptors as it has the potential to melt or char.

Spammers Target Google Chrome Users Security software company, BitDefender, has revealed that spammers are now targeting Google Chrome users by infecting their systems with malware via a fake browser extension.

New Unlimited Mobile Business Plan From Vodafone Vodafone Hutchison Australia is set to roll out an unlimited business plan aimed at small-to-medium sized businesses. The Vodafone $75 Unlimited Business Cap offers unlimited standard national voice calls, texts, voicemail, and data for mobile browsing.

Portable PCs and Slates To Grow In 2010 According to a quarterly report by DisplaySearch, the portable PC market is expected to grow to 215 million units and push revenue to almost $117 billion. The firm also said that Apple’s iPad will lead the slate charge and push the category past 5 million units.

Telstra Urges Safe Driving This Easter A Telstra survey has revealed that almost ten per cent of motorists have been in an accident or nearly involved in one by using a mobile phone while driving. This is despite the fact that 93 per cent of those surveyed know that this behaviour was illegal.

New Qantas Aircraft Promises Comfortable Flights Qantas has announced that its second new A330-200 aircraft offers passengers enhanced comfort and state-of-the-art entertainment in every seat.

Get Cash Back With Samsung Printers Samsung Australia is giving users up to $120 cashback for every printer or multifunction printer purchase.

New Quicken Software For Windows 7 Quicken has launched a new product line which consists of Personal, Personal Plus and Home & Business to help users keep a close eye on savings, expenses, and investments.

Shocking Numbers For Telco Complaints The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) has urged businesses to improve on their services as it had a 54 percent increase in the number of complaints this year.

Shares Up For Samsung Printers Samsung has beaten its rivals yet again, this time capturing over 23 percent of the global market for A4-sized multifunction printers in the second quarter of 2009.

Toshiba Recycles Your PCs Thinking of purchasing a new notebook but don’t know how to get rid of your old desktop or notebook? Toshiba announced that it will recycle your old PC/notebook and even give you $150 off the RRP of any notebook in its business range.

Acer Recalls Overheating Notebooks Acer has issued a voluntary safety recall of its Acer Aspire notebooks that may overheat under specific conditions.

Mobile Phones Now Used For Internet It seems that mobile phones are not just being used for calls and text messages, with a survey claiming that more than 75 percent of Australians now use their phones to access information.

1 In 5 Users Fall Victim To Cyber-Crime Symantec has found that an identity is stolen online every three seconds. This cyber crime is faster than crimes committed on the streets of New York City (every three and a half minutes) or on the streets of Tokyo (every two and a half minutes).

Harry Potter and the Vengeful Spam Researchers at BitDefender have detected a new wave of spam attacks focused around the release of the latest Harry Potter movie.

New Telstra Service Takes On Blackberry Microsoft and Telstra have announced a new business solution that will give users access to mobile ActiveSync e-mail, calendar, and contacts though Microsoft Exchange.

Notebooks & Netbooks Booming Big Growth Tipped The Australian notebook market that makes up the bulk of Asia Pacific sales is set to grow by 18.7% while netbook sales are set to grow by 64.6% according to new research from DisplaySearch.

Major Shake Up At Cisco Consumer EXCLUSIVE: In a major shakeup Cisco Singapore management is taking over the day to day operations of the Companies consumer division in Australia. It is also believed that the new Cisco Flip camera and new wireless audio system will not be launched in Australia till next year leaving a big dent in pre Xmas sales.

PC Market Tanks IDC has reported that PC sales have gone down 3 percent, with only 1.1 million units shipped in the first three months of this year.

Big Retailer Envious Of JB Hi Fi Say Westpac A senior Westpac economist has said that several retail groups including Wesfarmers and Woolworths are envious of the success of JB Hi Fi and are keen to “get a share” of the fast growing consumer electronics market. They also revealed that Clive Peeters outperformed JB Hi Fi during the past month.

Yahoo Cuts Nielsen Deal Yahoo has strengthened its relationship with Nielsen Online as it subscribes to its Market Intelligence service.

Plant A Tree By Recycling Your Mobile Australians can assist thousands of native animals by supporting the Old Phones, More Trees campaign by MobileMuster and Landcare Australia by simply recycling any old mobile phones during the month of May and until World Environment Day – June 5.

ASIC Set To Be Called In To Investigate Leisuretech Trade creditors of failed home automation group Leisuretech could be forced to pay back money to the administrator of the group following allegations of wrong doing by Leisuretech CEO Andrew Goldfinch. The company was placed into liquidation with debts of over $1.6 million dollars. The allegations claim Goldfinch deliberately paid out creditors with who he wanted to continue trading with under a new Company structure while not paying out others.

Leisuretch Directors Try To Cut Liquidation Deal Only hours before the administrator of the failed home automation group Leisuretech who own the A Bus patent, was set to recommend that the Company be placed into liquidation, he was approached with an offer to settle by the directors of the failed Company, however as of today no offer has been made.

Lenovo Scores NSW Netbook Deal Lenovo has partnered with the NSW Department of Education and Training to provide 220,000 netbooks to government secondary school students and teachers.

Broke Leisuretech Netting $750K A Year From A Bus Patents The administrator of the failed Leisuretech Australia distribution Company has admitted that there are “questionable issues” relating to the value of assets in the failed Company which was placed into administration with debts of over $1.6M dollars despite the fact that it was earning over $750,000 a year from A Bus patents.

Samsung Makes Big Investment In People And New IT Products Just when Sony is announcing layoffs Samsung has gone on a major hiring spree in an effort to kick-start their fledgling information technology division which will also encompass commercial products for the Pro AV market.

How Storage Companies Buy Storage Federal US prosecutors have accused storage giant EMC giant of paying illegal kickbacks and overcharging U.S. government agencies. Separately, another storage corporation, NetApp, has revealed that it expects to pay US$128 million to settle a government inquiry also related to alleged illegal overbilling.

PC Industry Set To Be Hit Really Hard The PC Industry that has witnesses good growth from demand for a new generation of notebooks is set to be hit hard claims research group Gartner who claim that the PC industry will experience its sharpest unit decline in history, with PC shipments totaling 257 million units in 2009, an 11.9 percent decline from 2008.

Consumer Electronics War JB Hi Fi Vs Dick Smith Looming A bitter consumer electronic war is set to break out as retail giant, Woolworths tries to curb the success of JB Hi Fi. After being rebuffed by the highly successful consumer electronics retailer in 2008 Woolworths is set to dump their Power House stores and take JB Hi Fi head on with a revitalised Dick Smith chain.

Netbooks Fire Up The Market New Touch Models Soon Small portable notebooks are hot say IDC but retailers claim they are not making "good" money from the devices. Overnight IDC has confirmed that ultra small, ultra cheap laptops are outpacing the rest of the PC industry and that demand for the popular device is unlikely to decline in 2009.